Rounding Rules

What are NIP Rounding Rules?

NIP rounding rules are the prescribed conventions for rounding nutrient values in an Australian or New Zealand Nutrition Information Panel (NIP). They are set out in Schedule 12 of FSANZ Standard 1.2.8. The rules specify the permitted rounding increment for each nutrient and define the threshold below which a value may be expressed as zero.

These rules exist for two reasons: consumer readability (whole numbers and simple decimals are more useful than 14-decimal-place calculated values) and to ensure consistent comparison between products.

The Schedule 12 Rounding Rules

The complete rounding requirements from Schedule 12 of Standard 1.2.8:

Nutrient	Rounding rule	Zero threshold
Energy (kJ)	Round to nearest 10 kJ	< 4 kJ per 100g may be expressed as zero
Protein	Round to nearest 0.1 g	< 0.5 g per 100g may be expressed as zero
Fat, total	Round to nearest 0.1 g	< 0.5 g per 100g may be expressed as zero
Saturated fat	Round to nearest 0.1 g	< 0.5 g per 100g may be expressed as zero
Trans fat (if declared)	Round to nearest 0.1 g	< 0.5 g per 100g may be expressed as zero
Carbohydrate, total	Round to nearest 0.1 g	< 0.5 g per 100g may be expressed as zero
Sugars	Round to nearest 0.1 g	< 0.5 g per 100g may be expressed as zero
Dietary fibre (if declared)	Round to nearest 0.1 g	< 0.5 g per 100g may be expressed as zero
Sodium	Round to nearest 5 mg (< 100 mg) or 10 mg (≥ 100 mg)	< 5 mg per 100g may be expressed as zero

Note: The zero threshold applies to the per-100g or per-100mL column. If the per-serve value is non-zero but the per-100g value rounds to zero, the per-serve column must still show the rounded per-serve value, not zero.

Why Rounding Errors Are Common

Rounding rule errors are one of the most common findings in label audits, for two reasons:

Spreadsheet rounding logic is easy to get wrong. Excel's ROUND() function rounds to a number of decimal places, not to the nearest 5 mg or 10 mg for sodium. A custom formula is required for sodium, and many spreadsheets use a blanket "round to 1 decimal place" approach that does not match Schedule 12.

Zero thresholds are often misapplied. Many manufacturers express a nutrient as zero when the calculated value rounds to less than 0.5 g, without checking whether the threshold applies per 100g (as Schedule 12 requires) rather than per serve.

Common Mistakes

Rounding sodium to 1 decimal place. Sodium must be expressed in milligrams, not grams, and must be rounded to the nearest 5 mg (below 100 mg) or 10 mg (above 100 mg). A calculated sodium of 67.3 mg/100g must appear as "65 mg", not "67 mg" or "67.3 mg".

Applying rounding before rather than after summing ingredients. Nutrient values for individual ingredients should be summed first, and the rounding applied to the total. Rounding individual ingredient values before summing introduces systematic errors that compound across complex recipes.

Using the wrong zero threshold. The zero threshold is assessed on the per-100g or per-100mL column. If protein is 0.3 g/100g (below the 0.5 g threshold), it may be expressed as zero in both columns. But if protein is 0.6 g/100g, it must be declared as 0.6 g per 100g, even if the per-serve value is below 0.5 g.

How Batchbase Handles Rounding

Batchbase applies Schedule 12 rounding rules automatically to all nutrient values in the NIP. The calculated raw values are summed across ingredients first, then each nutrient is rounded according to the specific rule that applies to it — nearest 10 kJ for energy, nearest 5 or 10 mg for sodium, and so on. Zero thresholds are applied to the per-100g column as Standard 1.2.8 requires.

Related Standards and References

• FSANZ Standard 1.2.8 — Nutrition information requirements
• Schedule 12, Standard 1.2.8 — Rounding of nutrient values in NIPs
• FSANZ food standards code